Trashing Trailer Parks

Julie Madsen

| September 13, 2002

Trashing Trailer Parks, Jesse Walker,
Reason Online
The prejudice behind the image of the 'white trash trailer park'
goes beyond the parodies that we see on TV and movie screens. Jesse
Walker in Reason Online discusses the roots of the
idea of trailer parks as crime-ridden eyesores, and notes that
'Lately, the war on manufactured housing has been stepped up. If
the local sheriff isn't pushing to evict a park, developers may be
itching to build something more conventionally attractive -- and
profitable -- on the land.' Shutting down trailer parks has usually
been an easy task, supported by prevailing beliefs that they are
ugly, house the 'wrong' people, and pay 'insufficient taxes,'
Walker writes. 'Even the last charge is invalid,' he argues.
'Trailer parks often save governments money, by taking on the costs
of sewage, water, trash collection, and road maintenance. Yet the
foul reputation remains.'--Julie MadsenGo there>>